The Safety Effects of
Daytime Running Lights
For the Commission of the European Communities the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research hasbeen carry log out a study into the safety effects of Daytime Running Lights (DRL). In this study the
role of perception in accidents and the effects of the introduction of DRL have been reviewed together
with 24 already existing eva \Jatlons of DRL. Addit ional statistical analysis and new techniques have
been employed to produce the best estimates possible of the full effects of the introduction of DRL in
the EU in terms of the saving of _ves and reducing the costs of the road transport system.
The Safety Effects of Daytime Running Lights
DRL as a road safety measure i·s often difficult to under"tand for the ro'ad u~·er because he or she knows that with sufficient attention every road user can be se'en in da Y\ight. NevertheleSs, the research reviewed shows that visual perception in daytime traffic i" far from perfect and it is worse in conditions of low amhient i1Iumination.
In a striking example 8°,{, of cars in an op
en
fi Cid in broad daylight were not visibl e from n .. '1 evant distances without the u"e of DRL. On shadY roads or those with b1ckground" which ma"k objects in the foreground, the visibility and contrast of cars in popular colour" is greatly reduced.It is known from in-depth accident studies that failing to see anoth er road user in time (or at all) i~· a contrihut ing factor in 50 % of all daytime accidents and for daytim e
intersection accidents thi" inCrea"t..'!.' to as much a~·
so
Ok, .Validity of DRL effects debated
Developing Urban Management And Safety Adonis: a European exerc ~e
3 6 8
The psychological rc.,'earch revi Q.wed show~' that DRL dol.'<; not only improve the vi.,·ibility of motor vehicles in daytime, hut ,)(,'0 influl.'nces the timely peripheral perception of vehicles m,)king confhcting movements· Moreover. cars with DRL are better identified as cars and their distance<; arc estimatl..'d more safely compan:d to Cllrs without DRL.All this
contribute~ to the Cxpect,Hion th,u DRL ha<; po<;itive !>·Hety dfeqs. Aggressive behaviour in traffic
Road safety developments n the Netherlands
11, further step towards a su stainably lafe traffic system
\jew listof SWOV Publications available ~ sus tainably safe traffic and transport ;ystem: deja-vu in urban planning? .'" World Conference
)n Injury PreverHon and CCI'ltrol iow la order SWOV Publ1CSti CI'ls ;WOV reports in brief
9 12
14
15 16 17 17 M a t t h i j s KoornStra, 56 years Old .studled psychOlOgY at the LeYden UnlverSliy.FrOm 1966 till 1986 he fUlfilled different tUnCt bns at the LeYd8n Unlversliy. the last eight years as a crown member Of execut \le b card, Fr cm 19681111 1978 he was an adv Bor tor the research programme at SWOV,Slnce 1986 he IS the director ot SWOV 'HIS main field s Of Interest are edUCational and learn hg pSYChology, traffic safety, mathematical psychology, multlVarl'ate analYs B and SOCial sCience methodology, Since 1989 he also lecture s transport and traffic safety at the De It UnIversity of Techno bgy . Department of CIVIl Engineering,
l.'speci,\lI y in condition<; ot'lo\\' amhient illumin,Uion. HowCvl.'r, until rccently.e\'l.'n road <;"fety <;cientl'st<; •
-80 70 60 i!-t; 50 .!!
..
40 ...J a: 30 0 20 10 0-debated the validity of DRL effects I'n other conditions than in Nordic winter daylight.
New analyses
The scientific evidence for the safety effects of DRL in latitudes to the south of the Northern Scandinavian countries has only become available recently (Denmark, Hungary, Canada), Older DRL evaluations for southern regions mainly concerned DRL for company fleets in the USA, but results, though posl'tive, were not statistically significant. New meta -analysis of the earlier and more recently available DRL studies, taken together, have now shown that DRL effects on the same latitudes as those applicable to Europe are statistically significant.
SWOV study
The SWaY study investigated for the first time the differences between national and company fleet DRL effect~ as well as the DRL effects on accidents and on casualties, Both are found to be statistically significant,
In thi'i study all existing (24) independent DRL evaluations have been reviewed and.ur re-analysed in order to obtain unbiased, and comparably defined, intrinsic DRL safety effects while estimating statistical uncertainties in an optimal way, Intrinsic DRL safety effects arc defined as the effects of a change from 0°,6 to 100°,6 use of DRL by motor vehicles, The observed effects of DRL will differ, therefore, from
the intrinsl'c eff ea w ~n DRL usage is not zero at the start and.ur not one hundred perce It at the end of ob servations,
Curvilinear relation wfth the latllude
The intn'nsl'c effects calcula ted In this study, cover nine co unt lies and are combined into twelve national intrinsic 0 RL effects, five on multiple (m ulti veh icle) daytime accidents and seven on casualties in multiple daytime accidents, The result of this analysis is the establishment of stati!.tically significant curvih'near relationshl'ps between latitude and national DRL effects with resPect to both accidents and casualties, From the differ ence between these two relallonshl'ps an estimate has been made for the relationship between latitude and DRL effects on fatalities in multiple daytime accidents ,The ft'gure displays these relationships and the 12 national intrinsic DRL effects, The curvilinear nature~' of these relationships and the dillerences between them is explained by the lower ambient illumination levels at higher latitudes and the lower collision speed~' in accidents with one or more DRL users,
Savings and costs associated with DRL Based on the intrinsic OR Leffect~' related to latl'tudes ,estimate<; have been made for all the countrie'i I'n
Predlcllon curves for Intrinsic DRL effects on (outcomes of) multiple dByllme Bccldents
Intronslc DAL eflects der lied from observed DAL efte as
+ for Qlsualll'es , , Fatall 'es
o for accidents SI08 ' No~CaSUaltl!s
, , +
,"'
~
::;;::---, ::;;::---, ::;;::---, '...
.
... •••••••• A cc tlents~
I~",'- • + ... - ....
0
···
·
0
···
~ ••••••••••• USA"" l1.o~us i ;,
,
,
,
,
,
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Latitude the EU ,There
stestimatiDn iSthat full DRL in the E U, corrected for the existing DRL usage (mainly in Finland, Sweden and Denmark), would prevent:- 24,6% of fatalil1'ts in lIIultiple da)d(me lI(:e:idelll~;
- 20,00;" Of ca\llalties lil multiple da)ltime ac('ideJ1l~;'
124°j, /Ilultiple daytime accitlelll~', Since only about 50% of all reported accidents in the EU occur when DRL effects apply, savings must be factored accordl'ngly, Full application of DRL acros~ all EU countries would, therefore, yield the annual prevention of:
. ~500 fawIiI1C's;
- 155,000 regilferec/liljured pen-oils;
- 740,OO() regl\reJ'ed aaidellt.l'; . 1.9 millioll aa:idellf.l' involvinf.:
ill.llI/'{/ncc c/aim~,
Thi~'rclalively simple approach to the calculation of savings i~ pos~lhle because I't b'shown that there are no adverse effect!; of DRL on road u<;er'i not dl'rectly I"nvolved I'n the change,
Pedl~tn'ans benefit I'n the ,\amt: way a~'car occUP,lOts and thercI~'no change I'n the ri'ik to motorcycli'its (alrClldy using DRL),
Savings
ThQ financial h~sls tor c,11 cul.tting saving,'S ;"'tllkcn fro 01 the recently adopted EU )'()/Id ,afety prognmme whl'ch 1'5 bll~ed on an overall calculated ~~ vl'ng of I mllh'on E QJ per fatality ~Ived,
How~vCr, Jccidcnt~' whIch c.tn be prcvt.'nted hy DRL arc relatively
overall cost per fatality would exaggerate savings by about J3ot. When corrected
for this, the I million ECU pe r fatality prevented becomes 0.87 million ECU
when applied to DRL.
The total annual saving.
therefore, is 0.87 million x 5,500 =4.78 billion ECU.
Annual costs of
automatic in-vehicle DRL
Th e ann ual econ Qmc costs of automatic in-vehicle DRL have also been researched and the additional annual costs are:
Fuel costs Car costs Bulb costs Environmental costs 1.13 billion ECU 0.08 billion ECU 1.26 billion ECU 0.18 billion ECU Annual economic costs 2.65 billion ECU
Using these figures the benefitleost ratio for full DRL in the EU is:
4,78 billion ECU benefits
1.80 2.65 billion ECU costs
Recommendations for action
Both the ~cale of potential w I~il A of lives and the l>enefit/cost Intio
demonstrated in tll1S ... rud)· indh (ItL'
that the introduction ofDRL aq·oSs tlte 1I'llOle EU if desiJnhh'and IIIgent.
2 On tec/llliL'al. practi cl/I and legal grolllul ... · it I~' recommL'nded that (ompulsory DRL, 1I1,en
implemented in the EU. shollld l>e an alllomatic in-vehicle system that mes th e t\'istil1g 1011' beam
headlights (0/' special D R lamps in the long 1'1111). Introduction in this form is el:pected to be more n:adi/.\·
aaepted than a DRL obligation
requiring behaviol/l'al (tlllngeS by 1II0torists.
3 The envil'onJl1ltl1lal Co...1l; du e 10
emis ... ions of tll£' 0.9°(, addilional fllel need ed fO/' the light em'lg)' of
DRL. are of importance:.
Environlllental or ganisation shave been agail1 S( the introduction of tilL' D R L obll'gation ,i, Denlllark and have influenced political d t Cj Siom on DRL ol>ligation.\·in th" Netherlandf and Austria.
In its conservative approach to henefli/cost caldilatiolH thi!. 5tudy
ha s identified a simple b{/\1~ jilr the
COI·t
of
environmental damage IVhile ignoring the benefil\'pr~vided by the saVlilgs. Past experiend!suggest~ that it I1 'ould be wI:~e t{)
identi/)' these benejlt~ w that
('nVli'onmental argllmellls can be Countel ed (l/1d the correCt net effect o/th e,illl'oduction of DRL idL'II,j/L'd.
4 Wll1l(' li is vel')' important that DRL wfet)' effectf are lIIulenlOod by policy I/wke/S, politicians and other ... ' 11 'ith a projcssionalliuere ... ·t. it is likely that public aCCeptance of compUlsory DRL lI'il/ require some form of locial marketing of the policy in ordel' to rai.le general all'arene.\:~ of the bC!/lefit ... · of D R L.
Thi~' fhould be a pMt of an implementation Irratel:)' to be develop('d. rJlL'I't will be additional cml.\·assodated lI'ith thi~'
recommendation b/lt they IVII! be · ... rallup . cost~' which can be ... et agaiJ/I't the b(,nefits OV(.'I· a peliod of'time.
The Safety Effect of Daytime Running Lights
A perspective on Daytime Running Lights (ORL) in the EU: the statistical re-analysis and a meta"analysis of 24 Independent DRL evaluations as
well as an investlgat/on of possible policies on a DRL regulation in the EU MallhiJs Koornstra. Frits Sijleveld & Marjan Hagenzieker.
R-97 -36· 175 pp. 01/. 50."· (in English)
D
eveloping
U
rban
M
anagement
A
nd
S
afety
Together with othe r European road safety institutes, SWOV participates in the DUMAS project: 'Developing Urban Management and Safety', a project of the research programme of the Directorate General for Transport of the European Union. The Transport Research Laboratory in the UK is the co-o rdinator of the DU MAS profect .
.**
*
*
*OUMAS*
DUMAS will bring togetherthe exlsttlg knowledge on the effects of safety measures with the planning and management of urban safety programmes currently in use in the EU. Nine countries are Involved in the project:
Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and the united Kingdom·
Not only integration of measures into traffic safety schemes is of interest. but also the (local) policy and deciSion making process and the public acceptance. The project will follow on from earlier stUdies inclUding the OECD report on lntegrated Traffic Safety Management'.
..
*
l'rle objective of 0 UMAS i~ to produce eventuall Y a framework for the design and evaluation of urban !;afety initiatives. Its fir~t stage has been devoted to preparing a state -of~ the-art revi
ew
on exi sting practice and experienc~ in the field.In view of this, nine national state-of-the-art report~ were
prepared by th e consortium partners along the lin Cs of ~ common
framework a~ proposed by SWay. An overview ~nd analy~i~' of the~e studie,' wa~' prepared hy SWay.
The Dutch situation
SWay puhlished a report regarding the Dutch state-of-the-art in the field concerned. The centralthemtl is the new direction which the government of the Netherlands has rocently taken concerning its approach to road safety. This come!>' down to achieving a ~ustainably ~afe road trMlle ~'y~'tem in rural a,' well a~
urhan district~. The most esse ntial,
hut not the only, pillar in thi,' '1pproach is thl..' hringing ahout of a ~ustainahly safe road infrastructure.
The report ,'tart!>' with an analytical de~'cription of the ~'ize, nature .and development of road ~;afety in the Nethe r1and~' during recent years.Estimaw,· are madl..', not only of the present day co~'t~ ·;ociety pay" for its TOe\d safety,hut ,\1"0 of the henefits theH Cln accrue if ,\11 thl..' plan~' 'He completl.'ly reali~'Cd.
An analy,'i!>' of the cosh' and benefit"
~how,'th,H the introduction of ~'uch an
~pproach i~' cert,\inly co,'I'\.: t're qi\'e·
Next, an impression is given of
the organisation and coordination of
a road safety policy, in the widest
sense of the word. A number of
instruments are described which are available to the national and local
governments. These enahle them to
keep their fingers on the pUlse.
The necessity for a new tlpproach
to achieve the policy goals is also
substantiated. The developments
wi thin de urban infrastructures are
placed in an hi~torical perspective. The development is outlined of converting a fairly unstructured sy!>'tem into an infrastructure based on a sustainable road safety.
This includes the variants in between.
~'olely explain differences in a Ccid cnt
records.
However, reviewing the national
report~~ the central rol e of policy and decision making became obvious. After all, it is at this level that problem ~'olving is getting priority, legal embedding, funding and implementation, the 'top -down'
raising of public awarene~s, etc. Adequate organi~ational structures are part of it. 'They play a key role
in ~'tructuring and organising the
co-operation ot'the many different partner.,' to be involved in safety initiatives, in monitoring the
proce~'s Cs, the information transfer,
and so on.
Overview Sharing interests
The second SWaY-report offers an and goal setting
overview and an analysis of the The strategies of sh~ring interests national ~'tate-of-thc-art reporb' of and of goal setting turned out to be each of the nine countries involved succe~'sful &afety policies. At the in the project. The report addre~se~ same time, th ey appeared to be four subjects on which the partners effective in getting and, if nece So.;ary, were requested to gather information. keeping the traffic Safety issue on The~'e subjects are: the political agenda or priority li!>'t. - problemallalysi!>.alld ploblelll
flalemelll,' whal afe Ihe safelY
prohlem ~ alld how have Ihey
been ~/(l{ed ?
- policie.\',' Ii 'hal polhii:s andlcJ/'
~/mlegie~ afe elllailed lInd app/Jed
li, deallilg wilh ~ltch problel1/1' ~
delign lIlI f/ lillplemelll(l{ioll.' il1lo whalme(lVltl'ef amllc>r taql(\ lI/'l' Hnl! po/t'c,cs / wlllegicf Imllltaled lInd lum' afe lilc.i, III Ca\'u(e\' o(
\·t..l,emel' lillph'lIlL'lIled in IJlll(1ic:c ?
- el'alualioll and mOllilOrillg,'holl'
w
e
Ihe Wlfel) , efft..'OI' of H (1, mca\"HI'CI' ([f~i!ned and mO/lliol'('t/ (produt'1 evaIHall'oll) qlld 1101i' I',~ IllL' urball .\·afeo' illillalivL' appll/I'ICd (pf(}(h~ (' ... ~//lilllnn) lPo licy and decision making Knowledge on virtually all traffic
~'afcty managem ent policie,' ,\nd
~'pecific mC'a~ure~ turned out to be
wide"pre~d ,\mong thl..' countrle!>' in the study and ,\pplied in practice. alhC!.it sometime ... ' on ,\ minor SCale. So.lack ot'knowledge ,\s,'uCh cannot
In the !;haring interests stralegy, common goals of different policie~' are Intended to be achieved by combin eel and attuned effor"·. The forming of such coalition~ wa~
especially Succes.,'fuI In alliancC'~' with el1\'ironmental and well-being policies. In th e goal ~elling .,'trategy, the respon,'lhle authority commit~ it~elf to achieve a fixed traffi c saft,'t y targl..'t within a cert,\ln period of time. Thl..· ~'trat egy turned out to be effective in ,\chleving prl..'vinusly set targl..'t~·.
Indirectly, ~oml..· othl..'r re~ult,' of th C .,trategy sel..'m to hI..' at lea~t as important, for they wI'1I have 'I profound Impe\et on future !>'afety initiativl.. ... ·.ln ... ·C!.lIlnt
the scene and enndl·tion ... · for th eir
-
approach. The strategy requireo;,among others, long-range
comprehensive action program m cs, reliable organisational structure " monitoring procedures and information transfer . Importantly, the role and re~;ponsibilities of all actors involved also have to be established. Safety audits and safety impact assessment - in which the impact on road safety should, like the environmental impact, be systematically assess ed at the decision stage -might be supportive to both aforementioned strategies.
Old and new concepts
Some urban traffic safety concepto; have been developed over time and have become generally accepted. In this context, the area-wide safety approach is of particular interest. The approach, being an integrated traffic safety management philosophy, embeds past beneficial experiences in the field of traffic safety, taking into account other local interests and related policies as well.
New developments regard the so called sU!>lainably safe road traffic concept and the zero-vision approach.
The starting point of the
sustainably safe <bncept is th e
principle that man i!>' taken as the
reference !>landard. The prob,\bility of accidentSshould be reduced in
ad\'ance, by mean sof the
infrastruc-tural design. And where accidents
P e t e r
Wouters, 57 years old, studied
Math-ematics and PhysIcs at the Unlversliy of
Amsterdam· He IS a senior researcher
employed by SWOV Since 1969·
HIs main fl'elds of Interest are:
manual control, man-machine sys tems ,
human factors engl'neenng and sYstem
theory, Integrated traffic safety
manage-ment, speCifiC (I' c· elderly and y C\Jng) traffic partiCipants, the safety q freight tratftport , and advanced telematlcs I'n transport .
still might occur, the process which determines the !>'everity of these accident!, should be influenc Cd such that" death and serious injury is virtually excluded.
In the zero-vi!>ion approach, it i·; essential that the traffic !,yo;tem has to be dimensioned in Such a way th.lt possible conflicto; or incidents which might cauo;e injury, never result I'n a pre-defined level of unacceptable loss o(health to be exc CCded·
Evaluation
Evaluation studies of traffJ'c o;alety schemeo; are rather sc.lrCl)· Yet, evaluation b' of importance.
for tht,'sakc of a ~hemc it!>·elf. as we 11 ao; for the
!>ake of future traftic <;afety I·niticltive·,. Reliable stated clFQ;t~ and information on it might encour,\ y: more'
\\'idespread appll'cation .
Studl'es of thi';kind do not nt,"tcs!>arily have to f(Jcu<; on accident occurrence ,\Ion ... but o,ludying interme'dl',\te
vari,\bles for in S!.\nce' might dlo,'o be of v,\lue I'n ,\ppnll: .. I·ng ohjcctl'vcS
of !>',\fet~' ,\ction.
e.g. speed reduction, less through traffic .etc .The cffectiveneo;s of several of these traffic safety
schemes have been reported.
With regard to traffic calming measures, for inl>tance, evaluation
studies showed accident reduction!>'
between IS -80°,(,. Conclusions
In the final chapter of the report special attention has been given to what is !>'een as the crucial general outcome of this review: it is the question how can we elevate the exception -of only applying meaSure!>'
of proven cffectivene .. ·<; on an incidental <;cale -to the general rule. In that perspective, the individual outcomes of the review were
considered once more and combined. The conclusion can be drawn that the use o(Urhan Safety Management framework<; i!>' under
-!>lood but under med. These should be promoted on a national as well as
a 10callevel·The value of the
DUMAS proi\:ct is to point out how different national approache!>'to the issue allow the developm(;)nt of a fairly unilorm fram C\\'ork which would a .. ·si!>l in t.ncouraging the
change·" in poll'tical dcci<;ion making
which will he required.
u
Urban road sa/ety initiatives State of the art on eXls ling expertence In the Netherlands A.A·Vis,
0'97"'· 60 pp. Ott. 22,50· (in English)
Urban Safety Management ,'n Europe An 0 vervlew of current pra
er iC
e In nine countrtes t'n the Context Of the DUMAS prole etP·I·J· Wouters.
R '97 -57·46 pp. Of!· 22 ,50· (in English)
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Adonis:
a European exercise
Adonis stands for Analysis and Development of New Insights into Substitution of Short Car Trips by
Cycling and Walking. The goals of ADONIS were to provide:
• a comprehensive overview of best practice to encourage cycling and walking In c if,!es;
• a detailed understanding of ro ad users' travel behaviour and attitudes;
• new knowledge of behavioural factors in urban traffic accld,el'ls involving cyclists and pedestrians; • a comprehensive overview with general recommendations and guidelines for urban decision makers
regarding directions for efforts to promote walking and cycling instead of short trips in cities. Seven public and private European institutes and companies cooperated In attaining these goals.
As a component of this European project, a document has been pre-pared which comprises information
about measures which are intended
to stimulate cycling c'lnd walking so that the number of short car trips will possibly be reduc cd.
Measures being taking
in
theNetherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Spain were studied. The mec\sures have been described and been put into a standardised format.
A collection of a great many descrip
-lions is usually called a catalogue.
Such a catalogue of measure s is a
substantial part of thi sdocument.
The document is intended for local traffic authoritie!i parti cularly
for those who create designs for the
construction or improvement of
traffic facilities.and for those who
wish to influence the u se of these facilities.
T o n
Hummel IS 33 years old and ~ Itlied TraffiC Englneenng and Human GeOgraphy·
After h!; study he was emplOyed ~ the Ministry of Transport and Public Works.
Since 1997 he IS a researcher at SWOV·
He IS mainly Involved In pro~cts
concerning the deve bpment of a susta
ln-a t1y safe road tra'~ system .
What is new about
the catalogue?
For cycling measures, certain international catalogues have b een published. For pedestrians.
no European comprehensive work yet exists although some starts have
been made in that direction. It seems as if cycling organi<;ations can stand up for the interests of cycli1,'t~' better than the pedestrian organisations cc\n stand up for the intere<;t,' of pedestrians. For this reason, cycling measures are often not only
irrelevant to the need!." of pedestrians
but even unfavourahle.
Developing a comhined
catalogue expresses a philo"'ophy that emphasi~es the minimising of the use of mea.,·ures that would negatively ,\ffect the 'other group' . the ongoing considering of each group'<; interCst:,', and the '>erving of each group ,; intL'reMs \\,hL'oe\'er po<;sihle.
A eata logue like this wiII never
~ really complete; other measures are conceivable, and there is more to
report about each meaSure. The main purpose of this description of how to
use the catalogue is to stimulate road authoritie S to prime the creative process intended to keep looking for good solutions.
Furthermore, it is assumed that only when people have good facilitie~' will they use' other mean~'than the car for short trips. Naturally. jU~l having good facilities is not enough; people have other re,\son<; for taking the car instead of cycling or walking.
Obviously, therefore. it is necessary to accompany this project wl'th
another onc (WALCYNG) involved
in developing a markL1ing strategy (hased on the wi.,·he~' and conviction<; of target group<;) for devCloping communiccHion:,' intended to rephce
:,hort car trip~-with cycling ,lnd w,\lking.
-
Which measures are presented?In general, two kinds of mC1~Ures
are pre~'~nted: technical and non-technical measures which are
friendly for pedestrians and cyclist~·.
Examples of thc fir~l categor y are
good cycle track~ and good cro~sing
facilities.The second kind of
measures concern rule~' ,md
regulatl'ons, traffic signals, and
public information and education. Addressed here are 71 technical
mea~ure~' and 31 non-technical measures.
Selection criter"Ja
Important are the selection criteria:
/ Comfort: is the solutioll attracu've alld does the wlllfioll make the trip shorter or faster?
2 Doe.\" the measure suillulate walking onycling?
3 Is the measure cost effective? 4 Daeni encourage .\afety and social
safety? (Whicl! Ill/m I/ot be
L"dangered il/ allY case.)
Which measures are not presented?
'Tllb' document assumes that a municipality has already allowed some space for cyclists and
pedestrians in it~ city planning or
restructunng, and that decisions have already been made in regard to the locations for new cycle and
pedestrian routes. Once this ha s been
e~tablished, I'ndividual mea~ure' l>Uch
a~ th~ ones presented here can 1)(.'
considered.
The ~am e applies to public
tnnsport fadhhe~. Walking and
cycling are ofle n used to co \t.T the
distance~' previou~ and subsequ ~t
to the route~ covered b)' public
tran sport. The document is limited to
the covering of these !>uppkmentar y
di'itances. Furthermore .effectiv e
public transport doe~' not u~ually
contnbute to a shift from use of the car to cycling and w,\lking. On the contrary, much public transport replaces bicycle and walking trips.
What is inCluded?
Each description of a measure I'S
accompanied by Illustrations:
photos, design, diagram of Cl lay -out,
or other road element'; as well as
illustrations of public information
material.lnfrastructural mea~ures
are sometimes provided with
dimensions a~ well.
Ne Xl, the advantage~ and
di~'advantages of the mca~Url.~ in
term~'of comfort, costs. ~afety, and
~ocial safety are de~'Cribed in a<; much
detail as possible. Also discu~',ed Me
the 1dvantages and disadvantage,' fll!'
road u~ers other than pede'itri,\I1s
and cyclists. If pos~ible, a co,t
t.:'SlI·mate is provided.
A a d
VIS. 59 years old, has been wo 'king at
SWOV as a researcher for more than
30 years Earh'er, he was Involved In
researCh concernl'ng safety barriers.
Submerging vehicles and the Influence
Of the use Of atcohol. medlcl'nes an d drugs
on traffiC Safety
Recently. he carned out research
on street lighting. traffiC calming and
'In lraStructural aspects and the safety
of mOtOr rl'ders
Finally, th e nam es of publication s
or or g11l1''i1tion s are II~ted a s sources
for more information.
Laws and regulations
Some of the four countries havt:'
special rcgulatiom'ln force lor
pedestrian and cyclist lacilities, a ftlct
Whldl ha!>' con~;cqucnces for the use
of the document. Onc exampllo is
how the Nethellands strlvlo~·to give
ty cti"s broad cycle trach'.
This mea~ure is pmtially determined
by the I:\ctthat I'n the Ncthl.'t1and~'
cycli'ib' arc allowed to ride ,ide by
~ide. It i,' <Ilw ~Y' important.thercli)re,
to Involve the regulation~ in a certain
country whl.~\ chllo<;ing me,\'iure,.
In addition to the national IClW .. and
regul,lIiom .. thcre are al~o European
regulation,·(the Viennll Agrel.'11lCnt
and th<-'GenL'\',1 Convention).
Not L'Ver)'L'JUntr)' ha~ ratified thest.'
agreemL'nt~. ,md <-"cry country can
al<;o <Ippl)' the rule<; in I'h' own W'4Y.
CIa ssifications of the measu res
Ro"dauthon'tl'L~'cdn havelllany
dl'tfcrent YUl.'Stl·om whl.'11 wantl'ng to
t"kc mc,\~urc~ to encourage cycling
"nd w"lkl·ng.ThL)' m~y w()ndcr
\\1'11<: h rL'gulatl'on'i will pn)\1de the
,trongl...,t motl\tllion to cut hack on
-~---what can be improved in regard to the infrastructure.
In the first cm;e. cia 9>ifying the measure~' according to the thel'r level of firmness -from very strong to very
weak - is necessary. In the ~'econd case, making a distinction between infrastructure and non-infrastructure is most u .. eful. And, obviously, both questions can be posed simul-taneously. Classdying according to
both criteria at once is handiest. In this ~et of directions, several po~~'lble c1assificatl'on criteria WIll be
applied to the measure~' while always
implyin g a different presentation of the qu estion. Although the classi-fication used in the document may be the most obvious one, it is
certainly not the only one possible. For this reason. van'ous systems of selection will be offered.
-Best pracllce to promote cycling and walking
SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research. the Netherlands. Ingenieria de Traflco S.L. (INTRA). Spain.
Langzaam Verkeer VIW. Belgium. Oanlsh Road Directorate. Technical University of Denmark (0 TU). Denmark.
300 pp. 011. 75. -.
Aggressive behaviour
in traffic
This report gives an account of the findings of a study into aggression in
traffic. The study was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Transport.
It begins with a description of activitIes In the Netherlands in the field of
traffic aggression. The report then defines the term traffic aggression more
precisely, using the relevant Dutch research material, international research
and the conclusions of an expert meeting on aggression In traffic.
The meeting which was held on 12 August 1997 was hosted by the Royal
Dutch Touring Organisation ANWB. Further, an attempt Is made to estimate
the relevance of the traffic aggression phenomenon to road safety. Finally,
possible approaches to prevention of traffic aggression are formulated.
A simple analysis of newspaper reports ~hows that exces~ively aggressive acts (road rage) are relatively uncommon. Thilt'is also confirmed by the more extensive American research. The degree of social disquiet about the
phenomenon is probJbly partly determined by media cove rag t;
Types of aggression
Traffic lturv e.y sand SOCIO
-p'iychological liter ature di.,tlnguish two types of aggre!>Sion :
I affeethle aggression. whereby there i~' an l;lIent to cause damage or whereby a tllI'eat to cause damage is made. fJlOfl/pted by a feeling of allger at perc..'el·ved injw7ice; 2 instrumental aggression. 11'herebv
the aggres~or attempt s to gain p~)'dlOlogi(:al or mate/lal advantage and tllll~ reckolls Oil eau~lng harm to otln'n'. An{fer IS not lit the /'OOt (}fthi~.
Affective aggression
Nothing is known about the extent of Mfective aggression, but itlt' potential conseq uences ar e considered to be serious. Excesse .. can probahly be placed at th e extremes of the aggression ltcale·Causes are to be
found within the sphere of emotion theory: the aggressor becomes angr y
becault'e of disadvantage to which he has been put by someont: who
i
s
allt'o seen to be able to prevent 'iuch disadvantage.Further,moods play arol e as do perSon"lity traits.
Prevention could be geared towards
the prevention of int enlionally
harmful actions and behaviour. and the aggressor's learning how tOcontrol anger.
Instrumental aggression
Instrumental aggre Sion i~ thought to ht: wide!>·prcad. Many con.~'ciou..,·
P e t e r Levelt, 55 years old, studied PSYChOlogy at the Unl'versity of Amsterdam, He carried
out research on children and media,
He
obtained his doctorate in 1981 with a thesis on the subject: what children can learn f(om television,For ten years he was head research and one of the editors of the televl'sion
program Sesame Street Since 1986 Peter
works at SWOV and his main Iopic is Ira tt,c behaviour,
intent of harming others or to deliberately place otherl>' in danger. The consequences for road safety also appear considerable. Causes are to be found in personality traits and attitudes, and in situational factors. Mood~ can also be a factor here. Prevention overlaps with the pre\'ention of a number of traffic violations, such as speeding offences and driving under the influence of alcohol. Attitude theory provides
handhold~' for an appropriate
approach.
Attributed aggression Experts currently consider another factor to bl,,' I..'vL'n more relevant·.
people are irritated by the .lggr t.~sive behaviour of other~ .This concerns attributed aggression which hy no
mcan~' always involves
objective-aggreSSive acts, The .,ame factors that apply in the case of affectl've aggression apply here. However, the emphasis here lies more on the subjective perception of intentional damage by othe rl>: There fore the emphasis in pre ventative action lies on changing these attributl'ons and the promotion of an ability to ',ec others' point of View.
In variouscountrics, rankinll tables of acts which are seen to he aggre~'sive have been developed, Here, the degree to which an act i., seen to be aggressive does not correspond exactly to the degn,"e to which it I'S experienced as anno}~n~.
nor to the degree to which onL' reacts aggressively one~elf.
Recommendations It ha., been e~ldblished that good theoretl'cal frameworh' exist fOl' l>ludying aggression in tralll'c hu t that some gaps exi~t in knowledg e
Road safety developments in
In the Netherlands, as in many
other countries, the number of
the Netherlands
fatalities is well·know n, but the reall number of hospitalised road traffic
victims is not. The degree of comp leteness of the police reporting for th is
group in the Netherlands 'Is yearly roughly estimated; it has gone down from
about 80% twenty years ago to 60°' by now· The Ministry of Transport and
Public Works wishes to arrive at a new approach fo r registering data concerning road traffic accidents to be able to determine the actual extent of
road safety. This new approach is being elaborated in more detail by the
collaborative efforts of the ministry itself, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and SWOV. Within this context estimates of the real numbers of road casualties
are published officially,
concerning the extent of, and motives for, the various forms of aggression and concerning the relevance t<)f road safety,
It is proposed that an aggression meter be developed, to begin with attributed aggre.,sl'on. This will thL"n fill the gap~' in exi'iting knowledg e. answer the social que.,tion of whether aggression il>' increa',inc and will ~'erve to evaluate preventative'
mea.,urcs,
Aggressive behaviour In traffic Op,f"ons. state of the art and
recommendatt'ons
Or. P.B.M. Levelt· R-97-45. 147 pp. Oft. 45,-. (In Dutch)
sway
w,h C0111111i.,,'I·( ned to d\.,\ 'L10pand ,\pply a 111 L'thod to dell-Tin 'lL' lIle actual numher ot ~h'u.\ltl'e~·.
Two ,cp.lrate ~Hq~( l'I'e~' v. efL' to he L'itl'111atLU :ho.,pital ,ld111i~ ~'()ns.
and l'nl'ufLU pL'r~()n~'wh(l li:portL'd tllL)n,ehc., 1(lf IIUlt111\.,)1l1·n the hOl>pl't ll'~ ACCident ;lI1d EIll\.,)l!cn cy
R a g n h i l d
Davldse IS 26 years old· She studied
Psychology at the Leyden Unlversliy. After
her study she was employed by the Centre
for SCience and Technology Studies at the
Leyden Unl·verslty· Since 1996 she IS a
researcher at SWOV·
A main part of her task concerns the
analysIs of developments In road safety·
Olher activities concern the Road Safety
~ formation System and data manageme nt .
Hospital admissions
To make an estimate of the hospital admissions,a comparison has been made between the record~' in two well-estabHShed databanks: the databank of police reported traffic
casualtie~, which is the official Dutch
databank for traffic accidents and the National Patient Register from SIG Ht:a Ith Care Information. The firs t one covers only road casualties. but more than hospitalised oncs: the second one covers only hospitalised paticnts, but more than road casualties.The first one is incomplete, the second almost complete. However. it is not possible to earmark all road casualties in the second database. The first one has only scarce information about the injuries, the second has only scarce information about the accident.
Thercfore the information of the two databanks was combined by matching the individual records and procedures have be<..'n developed tha( can effectively be used to estimate the total number of hospitali~ed road
ca~ualties. It was found that the total number of hospital admissions resulting from road traffic accident s occurring in thc Nethcrland wa : • lil 1994 19.840 • ,il 1995 • ,il 1996 20.()UO 19,42()
Injured persons requ·lrlng hospital emergency care Determining the actual extent of injuries requiring hospital emergency care was based on the source file known a~'VIPORS (Road Traffic Accidents in the Private Accident Registration System) containing data from 1994 through 1996. Ba~ed on a sample of 13 hospitals. national data were obtained by multiplying the sample outcomes with certain factors.
Thc total number of injured persons requiring hospital emergency care as a result of road traffic accident!.· occurring in the Netherlands was:
• ill 1994 99,200
• ill 1995 102,500
• in 1996 91,20()
Situation in 1996
These new estimates were uSe'd in another report, that presents an analysis of the general de\\!lopmcnt'\ in road safety in the Netherlands, with a special focus on the year 1996. The number of road deaths in 1996 was 1,180. This number dropped considerably in comparison to the figures for 1995, when 1,334 people died in traffic, thus indicating thc first decrcase in the number of deaths since 1991. Thi" would ~;ecm
to be an encouraging d<.."velopm<..'nt espc q'ally when considering the unfortunately high number of road deaths in 1995. Howcvcr, it cannot be concludcd yet that the~'e figurc!.·
actually indicate a positive develop' mlCnt in road safety on Dutch road". The main explanation for the relatively fewer number of de,\ths in 1996 wa!>' the cold winter during th,H year. rather than ~tructural fac tor<; such a!.' effective road salety m Ca~urL'" or a reduction in mobility growth.
The hrgely incidental chc\r,)('ler of the decrease in the numher of fatalitie~ mean" that additional policy effort .. will ~till b<..' needed fl)r the target !.·ct for th<..' ),eM 2000:
S°.() fewer ca<;u .. lltie<; th,\n for the'
yeM 19H5.Thi., i,'the m,\in conlC\uSion
drawn in thi s report. following it
thorough ,In,\IY'ls of the Clvail,lhle figure<; conc<"'rning 1985 tht'ough 1996 road ca,'ualties in comhin,)!ion with explanatory factor,' ,'uch ,\., the figure" concerning expm-ut'~' d,)! 4.
P e t e r
Polak. 57 years old. studied Physl'cs at
1I1e University of Amsterdam, culminating in a PhD In 1973.
He is a senior researcher employed
by SWOV since 1975. His main fields of Interest are methodology, mathematlca I models and data reduction: the representa'
population, number of vehl'c1es on the road, etc.
High risk groups This report also examines the nature of the road hazard~·. Absolute numbers of road casualties and risk figures were related to significant subdivisions such as the transport mode and the age of the person Dperating the vehicle. It I'S known that mopeds are linked to extremely high rish: This applies not any longer, however, just tD the chance of being admitted to ho~·pital. In recent years, the chance of dYI'ng in a traffic accident ha~
also been the highe~t
for moped riders The main users of thi~ transport mode (young people aged l'.i through 17) aba make up on C of the mo~l ri ~ filled age group~ participating I'n trJffic. People aged I Hthrough 14 a~well as those 65 Jnd
I)ld er are al~o com'idercd to be of
high risk. The first group mostly due to prohlem~' a~'socl'at(:d wl'th young motori~ts, and the second group due to their hl'ghL'r dcgrCt.'o
r
phy~'I'calvllln "rahl·lity. Spearheads
Ndtional pllon'tl'cs have hel..'n put on a selected numher of ~pe1fheads·
Sonll..' of them arc dl,>cu~sed·
The effect of alcohol in traffic i~' ~till (\ cause tl)r concern. Accordl'ng to poll'ce n:ports, the numher of traffic dl..'aths a~' a re~ult of (\Icohol .\ccident~· incrl.."a~ed In 1996. Accordl'ng to SWOY. however. tht-se ligllrc~' arc not ~o much due to more people drinking alcohol and then particip,Hing in tratii'c .a~· th e are
T o n
SI ~poe\ IS 54 Years old. SinCe 1966 he IS
employed bY swaV· First as a statistical
analYSt • later he grow Into an exPert on the
analySI's Of road safety flQures .
He advl'ses hiS colleagUes at SWay on how to use which data for their research·
He is alsO InvolVed In the develoPment and marketing of the Road Safety Information SYstem.
the result of the fact that the poli ce have been checking more ofll..'n to see if alcohol use wa~' involved in fatal accidents. The combinatl'on of drinking and dn',\ng b'chl'etiy a
problem invDlving young male
motorist~. Although drivers tged I~' through 24 do not drink "'> much a~' middle-aged men. the degree to which these younger driver Sdre involved in alcohol-related accidenh' i~'extremely high.
The u~i..'ol·safety belts and th e
large-scdled Violation ot'speed liml't~' also deserve continuing attentl·on. Seat belt u~e hds remained the same fbr years. and ~peed limit~' arC being violated to a great t.xtent <m almost all type~ of road. There ar e signs that the police 1fe Incre(l<;ing Ihel'r enforcement efforts .parti (Ularly when it comL\' to a more inteml·vt.'
control of spt.'L'd limit violal1·on~· A more wl'de 'Spread elfort u'>ing automated control techlllque~ I'n comhinal1<>1l wl'th information campaigns.howL\ter, wdl he net.'dlltJ to achieve a las\l'ng <::tkct throu Y'lout
the country.
Finally, the road ~~\I~'t Yon Dutch road,> w h' put into p er~'p ec\l'v to h y compari~i.m<; with (igure~' for ~tht.·r
causes of death, WIth the SituatIon in oth er countrIes, and with other mode~' of tran .. port. Sp etial attention was given to the cost~· re,ultlng from the lack of road ~'alet y,
The determination of the totat number of hospitalised traffic victims by comparison of police and hospital reports
Dr. P. H. Po/ak & S. Oppe·
0-97-21. 14 pp. Oil. 15,-. (In English)
Road safety in the Netherlands during the years 1985-1996 An analysis of the developments R.J. Oavidse (ed.).
0-97-16.68 pp. Oft. 25,-. (in Dutch)
Estimating the actual extent of
road safety from 1994 through 1996
Incremen tal me tho d and results for hospl'tal admlss ions and In/ure d persons trea ted in hospital emergenc y departments
L·T·B. van Kampen, Dr· P.H. Potak. A. Blokpoel & J.M.J. Bos.
R-97-41. 78 pp. 011.25, '. (In Dutch)
Annual analysiS of VIPORS for 1996 FInal r eporlIng a bou t the resultS
of reg istenn g road traffic victims at
hosp(tal erner genc y department s
J.p' M· Tromp, L ·T.B. van Kampen & A· Blokpoel.
R-97-50, 69 pp. Oft· 25,'· (in Du 'ch)
Assessment of the comprehensive
-ness and representative-ness of VIPORS over the year 1996 A study to evaluate the representa
-ttveness and comprehenSIveness of
data gathered at hospItal emergency departments in 1996 in order to estImate the total amou nt of casualties requlfing emergency treatment
L· r·B· van Kampen. R-97-51. 54 pp. Oft· 22,50· (In Dutch)
-
-
A further step towards a sustainab
s a
f
e
t
r a
f
fie
l
y
system
ii6
H
and
bre
k
C
atego
rise
ring wegen
Fbad safety policy In the Nethe'rlmds aims to achieve a
susta nab ~ safe road traffic system: a system In which the road
infrastructure has been adapted to the limitations of human
capacity through proper road design. It is meant to be a syste,m
In which veh bles are technically equipped to simplify driving and to give all possible protection to vulnerable human being. Furthermore, it Is a system In which road users have been properly educated, informed, and where necessary deterred
fom undesirable or dangerous behaviour. Man should be
the reference standard and road safety problems should be tack lid at Its roots: a pro-active approach.
op duurzaam
ve
ilige basis
In recent time the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research
has carried out various research projects In orde r to adv'i;e tie
Dutch Government and other key stakeholders how to deslg n and how to achieve such a sustalnably safe traffic system.
De<1!(VoorIOPlge) IUnctJone ~enopera (bndeclen
Functional requirements for design criteria
The concept of sustainahly !bfe road transport comes down to the removal of all function combInation Sby making roads and street S mono-functIonal. Multi-functionahty leads to contradictory design requirements and al.,o to higher risks. Based on exi.,ting knowl ttlge functional requirements for design crit ena have heen developed by SWay for a sustainably safe traffic s y!t \in:
-aet/te reH"denllal area5 m'large {/ s pOHible,'
-every IIlp Q\' long ar possible () ver the~'af(ll I)p,eofroads;
- make tlips as 5hort as pos ~hle;
-combine rhort and Wife, . -prevOlt rearch behaviollr for
de.willllif ..tlS;
-mllke road Iyp \ 'n:G(Jgnirllbl e, , reduce and IIl1/form design
chllracILtlslio; .
-preVOlt C-fJllfltcls b (1\1 L'tj, on -C-fJllling lraJ/lc ;
-prcvelll
a
hflhP"bel» '<t.1I cro,Hln glraffic:
A few recent projects are mentioned below ·For more
nfor-mation please ask for the complete list of SWOV resea1!t'hon
a sustalnably safe traffic system,
- separate different tramport modes; - !"Lt/lice speed where conflid~ ·c.ollld
OCCIII,'
- prevent obstacles CllongH(fe Cl loar/. Recently ,these functional require
-ments have been made operational in provisional guideline." compiled hy a working party of the Netherlands CentrL-'for Research and Contract StandardIzation in CIvil and Traffic Engineering CROW.
Testing the sustain ability of the road network in West Zeeland Flanders
Ro 1tI safety in the Province of Zeeland ,and especially in the regIon known as we!t Zeeland Flanders (WZY), IS poorer in several respects than in other place., in the
Netherland~ ,The regIonal road
authoritie~ selected the WZY area as the site for introducing a sustainably safe traffic ~y.,tem. The Mim'stry of Transport and Puhh'c Works then de~ignated thi., project as a demon
-stratl(m pro)'ecl. Among other thl·ng." thIS means that a monitonng system
will he used for meticulou,ly
following the development!>'wlihin this geographic area. SWay has developed thl"s sy,lem and compiled variou., !>trdtegi e·; for carrying it out.
Testing
One clement of thi~'mom'tonng is the testing of measures in the area of road Infrastructure again!>t the deSIgn principles for sustainahly safe rodd networb. The strategy proposed for thIS t e!tlng was worked out in more detali to credte a deSign for the t t'ttlng -The te!>ting mu~l an,wer three questions:
• Doe~ 'the derlgll of tlte road networ k
COliform 10 the deligll pliilclple~ for sll.l/m;wbly lafe I ()(Id nL 1l1'orks?'
• Does the heltaviollr of road 1/1<.'1t c/llIl1~e al a re.lidt of applying If le
(le5ign prillcliJlev for SlIltlllill/b!\'
safe road nelwork\!
• Doer behaviollr c//{/n~c.'lil Cl (UJ r{ -lInce 11 ftll IlIe line oJ 're(/\(J/linK relalliIg to lite deSIgn and I/\L'O f
prti,CI;Jlel Jor 1'lIllmill/M)' IlIfe
Functionality, homogeneity and predictabWlty
The design of this ~ludy con~ists of three parts: functionality of the road network, homogeneity of traffic and predictability of traffic circumstances.
FlIl/cti{)llalit)'involve~ the intended use of the road network. Thi~' will be tested beforehand with models calculated to show the effects of the various traffic measures on traffic distribution over the network, and afterwards with counts, surveys and mea~urements that will establish the actual situation.
Homogeneity involves the circumstances, such as differences in speed and dimensions, under which the variou types of traffic (pedestrian, vehicular, bi tycles, etc.) are combined. Testing this occurs beforehand by evaluating the planned rules and po $ibilitie s for behaviour, and afterward by perceiving the act ual traffic ~1'tuation s
Predi C(abihty is recommended
to be establi shed by mean s of field test, use of a drivin!, ~imulator, video and photo studies, each of which will establish different combinations of different aspect~ of behaviour.
These aspect~ of b ehavl'ou rare: identifying road types and situations, identifying limitation~ in one's own heh,lviour, predicting situations and behaviour, controlling of encounters / limited eff(lrt, and limited variation in behaviour/agreement with desired
heha\~'our .
All activitl'es for te'itl'ng will be focm'ed on an itinerary in thi~ region
which includes all types of sustainabl y safe roads but could be applied elsewhere as well.
Road lafety impact aSSeSlIllellt ill the West/and Region
The We~tland Road Safety Project was launched in 1994. It wa~' a project conceived to enable the realisation of policy goals in the area of road safety for the years 2000 and 2010. As part of this project, SWay drew up a road safety impact assessment for the road network in the Westland region. The Westland region is that part of Holland south of The Hague. The study was financed by the Dutch Province of South Holland and subsidised by the Association of Dutch Insurers.
The aim of thl'~' study was to calculate the ~afety effects and costs for three different seenario~ in the year 2010. The~e scenario .. an.: a reference scenario, as well as three sustainably ~afe scenarios known ,Is the max, min and mix scen(\rio~. The last one is based on the min scenario, adding three new roud sections. A functionul clas~ification
of roads wa'i developed for each of the scenarios.
Outcomes
The differences between the out
-comes of the three su.;tainably safe
~cenarios were not very great. For all scenarios, the traffic on most of the road~ appea red to increase considerably in relation<;hip to th e 1993 situation. Traffi e flow deerCd cd
Result of In vestments h B sustBlnably SBf fI $lystem
50
~
I
--~--~~--~--~--~+----r
~--
r---_r-I--~
Imax!:
41 1--- - + - - - + - - - - ! - - - + - - - 4 ~.I. T - - -- ,..;.-0;:. I -,"~n _/-~ -; 30 ___ _ +-_ _ +-_ _ -!-_ _ --+ _ _ ~-- ~ ~~~ __ ~ __ --~..
~ 20~
-./'
~i :
-:
>0
.,
1
_
--+---+----11
l
'10 ! basil vLN -~-:
-
---f----!---
-+-'
:
l
~
~
~
If ifI
:
- -50 o 50 ~O 150 200 250 lIO 3;0 400susta "ably sale costs
T h e o
Janssen IS 52 years old· Since 1972. after he completed hiS study Civil Engineering at the Dellt University of Technology. he IS employed by SWOV.
The research projects he IS involved in. are the field of road Infras tructure • especially the categorisation of roads and road safety measures· Since 1991 he IS research manager of the department Technical SCiences·
on some rlUd~; depending on the chosen ~c enario. The only sCI..>nario yielding T Qiultl>' sufficient to meet the eritelia !>ct by the policy goals (40°,6 fewer injuries than in 1986) wa~ the max ~cenari(). Thi~ scenario
wa~' cstlmtlted to yield 42°,6 fewer
easualtie~' as d direct re~ult of making
modification~ in the inli·a~lructure.
The min ~'CI..>nario would yield 12°.(, fewer ca~ualtie~: whill.' the mix scenario would yield 38°.(, fewer casualties when comparl..'d with tht:
1986 situatl·on. In compari~on to the trend .,'Cenario (536 casualtie~ annuall)'), trafhc hala rds would he almm'\ or largely cut in half.
Mix scenari 0 most cost
effective
The co.,t~ accompan) lng thl:' thrl..'\..'
su.,tainahly safe l11ea~·Ull.~ ~cre e!>timated hy the region.ll road authorities to he 365 millIon gUl·ldcTI. I<Hthc nhl'" scenario and 285 million
guilder, for hoth ot'thcothcr
~'CI..'nHTio\ I..'xcludin!, the
CO'"''
lilT eonstruc\J'ng the thrl..'c new HMd'ection~ included I'n the mix' \"ccn,\TI·o. Whe n thl..' r cd Ulct ion in th Co numher,' of'c,I . .,ualll·l.. ... wa s weighed again.,t the ill\L"';tml.. 'Ilt cOl,h·. it ,lppe.lrcd th H the mix 'lC1..'n.ln"o ~ould hI..' th 'mo"t co..ll..'flcctl\L'.
-
-Sustainably safe traffic system and accessibility: a pilot project for the Central Netherlands
This study which was carri eel out with a Dutch firm of consultl'ng engineers, DHV Environment and Infrastructure compares two kinds of road networks for the same region: one network developed in the tradi-tional manner and another network satisfying the basic conditions for a sustainably safe road traffic system. The comparison deals with issues such as road safety, accessibility. traffic flow, and various environmental aspects such as noise and the emission of harmful substances. The reason for this comparison can be found in the sometimes uttered hypothesis that a sustainably safe network can have adverse effects on accessibility, on traffic flow and could have detn'mental environ-mental effects.
To assess the quality of the two network versions, calculations were made using a traffic forecasting model. Such a model produces traffic flow data and speeds per road section. The data generated was used to score the two networks accordl'ng to a number of criteria.
Results
The overall results showed no adverse effects on mobility or accessibility, and for some a<>pects, the effects were actually po sitive. When using a sustainably safe design for the network, road safety is considerably enhanced.
The minimum gain is nearly 5%. The term minimum is used because only the effect of the differenc'es in traffic distribution over the network was examined, and not the effect~' of a sustainably safe design. It has already been estimated that with the complete package of sustainably safe measures, a reduction of 60 to 80°,6 in the number of casualties can be attained in the long run,
Accessibility was measured in two ways. The number of vehicle hours driven was examined;
combined with the number of vehicle kilometres, this gives an indication of the overall traffic speed on road sections. Furthermore, the number of vehicle hours lost at junctions was examined; this gave an idea of the traffic flow at junctions.
The numher of vehicle hours driven was somewhat higher in the sustainably safe version. This can be explained by the fact that the number of vehicle kilometres driven in this version is slightly higher. The number of vehicle hours lost at junctl'ons was lower in the sustainably safe version, This was caused mainly by the beneficial effect of the roundabouts on traffic flow at the junctions between the access road~:
As far as noise was concerned. no quantitative data relating to the number of homes adversely affected by noise was obtained, Maps indicate where the noise levels increase or decrease by more than 3 dB(A), From this it appears that extra attention should be given to a1ctess
SWOV PUBLICATIONS
,
=
,
roads inside urban area s,
The harmful effects on air quality Wl.'re ~lcula ted us ing LlHl.'l' p,\ ra -meters'. fuel cons umption, nitrogen oxidl."S emissions and CO! t.missions. The differences hetween the two versions were marginal.
Functional requirements lor the categorisation of roads A first step towards the development of guidelInes for a categorisatt'on of sustainably safe roads
S. T.M.C. Janssen.
R·97·34. 30 pp. Off. 17,50. (In Dutch)
Testing the sustainabilily of the road network in West leeland Flanders
A, Oijkstra, P. C. Noordzi} & C.M. Gundy.
R·97·29. 83 pp. Off. 35,·. (in Dutch)
Implementing Sustalnably Safe Measures In the West/and Region A study into the approach, costs and safety effects of a sustainablY safe ,nfrastructure for three scenarios R·97·46. 129 pp. Off. 65.·. (in Dutch)
Sustainably safe traffic system and accessibility: a pilot project for the Central Netherlands
FInal report F,Poppe.
R '97·40.46 pp, Off, 40, '.
(in Dutch)
New list of SWOV Publications available
'!he SWOV Public Relations Department has articles published in 1985 1997 . The numbermade a new Itst of the publications which are of the publication IS R 98 2 ,The price is written In English .German or French.
on
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-
transport system: deja-vu in urban planning?
The question of how to reconcile
urban development with traffic
<;tructure, traffic flows and transport
modes is by no mean., a new one, The trends in thinking on the subject, varying from traffic free through reduced traffic to everything out of the way for the car, still fail to converge towards any ideal or optimal situation ,Various concepts have been propounded and perhaps even adopted for a period,
They then disappear only to reappear -sometimes years later -possibly in modified form,
One example would be th t. urban underground railway,Thirty years ago thl'~'wa considered unacceptable I'n the N etherland~' hecause of the
This paper deals with the question of how to reconcile urban development with traffic structure, traffic flows and transport modes. A distinction Is
drawn between the so-called pan-urban projects and those within Individual
residential areas. A sketch of developments and trends is given, designed to
examine whether the knowledge and Insight attained in days gone by is
being applied, whether the urban traffic system can ever be controlled in all
its facets and if pan-urban concepts have a chance of success anyway.
It is examined how these concepts relate to the most modern of the
pan-urban concepts: the sustainably safe traffic and transport system.
link the various designs and
structures.
Firstly, they are mostly confined in their concept to fulfilling onc or two purposes or aims, (such as the
accessibility of the inner city or the
liveability, i,e, amenity of an area). Secondly, they come into eXistence only with thc greatest of difficulty (given the resistance of those they affect),
Thirdly, they di~'appear,
sometimes after but a short time,
An example would be the reSidential
area scheme which wm, attempted in the Dutch borough of Rijswijk, (with the help of millions of guildcr~' of go '>ernment subsidies), and which di ltlppeared only fifteen years later
policy, Of course, it is the urban local authority whose responsibiiJ'ty it is to
give form and substance to the traffic
policy hut whether the powers that be will ever emerge from the
laboratory stage remains to be seen, National government attempts to influence traffic poiJ'cy at local level by <;ub~'I'dising projects and by promoting the exchange of know
-ledge and experti!>'e, This influence has either a very rigid form, (a<; in the Rijswl}k case, where the re<;I'dCnts
large-<;cale demolition of residential when the area was returned to its property:now I't would <;eem that the previou~'layout.
id ea i:,oncl! again vl'able,
M1stakes of the past
alre repeated
~cth~r ther t. is any ~()rt of collective
Ilarning procc~~ for the trend<; de,cTlbed here would seem \ cry doubtful ,The ml'!>Uk ~'of the past ,Ire repeated at l!vcry nt.w emergence
-con'H'der the current planning trl.'nd to give re,'ident i,ll <;treets t he original old fa:.hioned look ,with tong <;tr<tight roads and calb' p,lrked on hoth sides,
That thl'~' p,\rtl'cular dt."'iign lends tn dimlni~h ~d road ,'Ht.'ty hn<; heen proven h}'m,\ny studl'l."conduqt.'d in thCdays hl.'fo,rethl.'I'ntrllductl'on (lf the Dutch woont.Tf en tht.' 10km
ill
lont."<; ,A numh t.r 0\' Q.)mmon pOints
The town as a laboratory
At the town and city level, urban dt.'\' e(opment and traffic planning invohcs using the town as cl
permanent lahoratory, I'n which
th tUr etlcal considerations concerning the optimum traffl'c structure are gi \t:n little chJnce, or serve merely a~' a background, in order that a common thread through practice and policy he m,\intainl!d ,There art.' town<; which, I'n l!xecutl'ng thel'r traffic policy (or a t 1L~1~1 a p,lrt of I't) , manage to mal'ntal'n that common thrt:ad for ye 4r<;, However ,tht.' thrt.'ld I".; thl'n and Its !>trength 'L'cm~' to dcpe nd l.'ntirely upon the l'ndividu,lh' charged \ 'ith thl.' e lI't.'cuU'on of tht.'
A t z e
Dijkstra is 43 years old, He studied Civil Engineering at the Dellt University of Technology, As from 1983 he was researcher at SWOV, commissioned With mainly infrastructural projects, From 1992 till 1996 he worked as a researcher at the OTB Research Instliute for Policy SCiences and Technology of the Delft University of Technology,
Since 1996 he works for SWOV again as a prOject manager and he IS working on the follOWing SUbJects: bicycle faclilt.es, sustal'nably safe traffiC and transport system, roads In rural areas, main roads In urban areas. and traffiC calming,
